Adolescent Population’s Characteristics
It is important to note that the teenager or adolescent population includes individuals between the ages of 10 to 19. It is reported that “according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, there were 41,852,838 youth age 10-19 in the United States, 13% of the total U.S. population, in 2019” (Act for Youth, 2021, para. 1). When it comes to gender, 51% of adolescents are female, and 49% are male. In the case of ethnicity, race, and national origin, the adolescent population is “50% white, 25% Latinx, 14% Black, 5% Asian, 4% multi-racial, 1% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.5% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander” (Act for Youth, 2021, para. 3).
Adolescent Population’s Social Determinants of Health
The adolescent population is unique and complex, which is its social determinants of health are different from other populations. These primarily include physical health, family, education, peer and social group, neighborhood or community, and covariates (Wang et al., 2021). The most important determining factors are family and physical health, which are followed by the social and school environment. Neighborhood and covariates come into play last but still can impact an adolescent’s health. Covariates include race/ethnicity, household income, gender, and primary caregiver’s education level (Wang et al., 2021).
References
Act for Youth. (2021). U.S. Teen Demographics. Web.
Wang, K., Zhang, A., Zheng, H., Kim, Y., & Padilla, Y. (2021). Proximal social determinants of adolescents’ health: The importance of everyday life circumstances.Youth & Society, 53(6), 913–933. Web.